SURV-A1

The SURV-A1 Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS)

Shannon Gibson

ASCI 530- Unmanned Aerospace Systems

Module 7, Activity 7.4 & 7.5

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University-Worldwide

27 September 2015

         The mission I have chose for the development of an unmanned aircraft system is the SURV-A1 (S1). The SI will be used to find life in disaster areas, where exploration would be difficult. This SI system would have the ability for easy setup and launch for aerial reconnaissance to find life using infrared (IR) technology and shorten the search time and lessen the area to allow access for life saving missions. This development and first real-time deployment for operations has been given a one-year expectancy.

Transportability:

- Entire system (all elements) shall be transportable (in hardened case) and weigh less than 50 lbs. (one person lift), with back-straps for the ability to set up in hard to reach areas that vehicles may not be able to reach.

- Air vehicle element and control element shall fit in single hardened case no larger than 2.5 cubic feet, with top and side handle and wheels. The case shall be able to withstand constant jostling and heat/flame retardant.

- In this pack, there shall be two parts, the ground control station, and the actual UAS. The UAS shall have the ability to break down into two parts for easy stowage, and the ability to simply click it together for easy readiness.

Payload:

-      Shall have IR cameras with the ability to send real-time video to the GCS, where the operator can radio in findings, such as how many human bodies or animals have been found

-      The IR shall give enough detail to see the shape of the contact, such as if it is human or other type of mammal

-      Camera shall have the ability for 360 degree view of area being surveyed

-      The thermal sensitivity should have the ability to be adjusted for various types of disasters

-      GPS system shall allow for exact coordinates to within 2 feet to be given back to operator

-      Camera shall have the ability to film and transmit up to 500 feet AGL and 2 miles from operator/GCS

-      Shall be powered by air vehicle element, less than 12 volts

-      Daytime, nighttime and foul weather IR capable inclusive of rain and wind up to 25 knots

Air vehicle element:

-      SI shall be capable of flight up to 500 feet AGL and 1 miles from GCS

-      No flight interruption and be able to withstand heat up to 850 degrees Fahrenheit

-      Easy assembly from two pieces into a complete unit

-      The S1 shall have the ability to orbit as well as proceed to a latitude and longitude with an error margin of 2 feet.

-      Shall be able to remain airborne for longer than 1 hour

-      Shall be able to recover, change batteries and re-deploy immediately

Datalink (Communications):

-      Shall use VLOS, up to 2 miles

-      If lost link occurs, hover for 30 seconds and return to GCS for reboot

-      Data link shall use less than 12 volts

Test Requirements and time line:

Testing requirements shall ensure the SI can meet all standards listed above. Time line start date, October, 2015.

October, 2015: Division of responsibility for requirements and definition of system and subsystems

November 2015 – January 2016: Designing system with details on allowable payload characteristics

February –April 2016: Initial inclusion of all parts into a complete system; GCS and air asset.

March 2016: Subsystem and system testing

April – May 2016: redesign of systems that failed operational testing

June –July 2016: Trial 2: inclusion of all parts into a complete system; GCS and air asset.

August- September 2016: System with subsystem testing

October 2016: Full operational capability

Border Patrol

UAS: U.S. Customs and Border Patrol

Shannon Gibson

Unmanned Systems, Module 6, Assignment 6.4

Embry Riddle Aeronautical University

There is significant interest in remotely piloted aircraft used in place of manned aircraft with respect towards domestic threats.  Several issues highlighted when speaking of border control issues; estimate of 500,000 illegal immigrants ever the U.S. each year, heavy drug traffic from the southern boarders and terrorist entry. A highly versatile unmanned aircraft system (UAS), used by the U.S. Air Force, Royal Air Force and other government entities is the MQ-9 Reaper and MQ-1 Predator. This aircraft is a turboprop powered, with the ability to be developed and modified for a multitude of missions due to the capacity to hold up to 3000 pounds of payloads (GA, 2015).  There are several missions that unmanned aircraft have been identified as mission essential for; fixed target surveillance, border counter migrant missions, counter-drug missions and incident reconnaissance (Guerra & McNerney. 2015).

The United States (U.S.) Customs and Border Patrol Protection (CBT), Office of Air and Marine (AOM) use the MQ-9 Predator B unmanned aircraft system (UAS) for our nations boarders to protect against threats (CBP, 2015).  This specific, platform aptly named The Guardian, was modified from the standard Predator B with structural, avionics and communication enhancements and infrared sensors more apt for the missions in maritime operations (CBP, 2015).  Currently, there are six of these UAS assigned to the border of the southwest region of the U.S., two in the northern border and two in Florida (CBT, 2015). The performance of this particular aircraft is an endurance of up to 20 hours, with both fixed and mobile ground control stations, speeds up to 240 knots, altitudes up to 50,000 feet with electro-optical/infrared sensors which increases awareness in any environment on all targets (CBT, 2015).           

There are several constraints to operating a remotely piloted aircraft (RPA) domestically, inclusive of; the Secretary of Defense must approve operations that are within the realm of the Department of Defense, if it includes imagery, higher authority must approve that as well and Federal Aviation Administration approval to fly in particular areas (Guerra & McNerney. 2015).  The imagery collection restrictions are strictly adhered to preserve privacy for civilian citizens. This can be and has led to legal ramifications for UAS entities, as citizens worry bout their privacy when the government has the ability to fly over their homes and film. While there are authorizations in place from the FAA by the name of Certificate of Authorization (COA), it can take up to 60 days to get these permissions, and that can become burdensome when the need arises unexpectedly.

            This aircraft replaces not only manned aircraft but border patrol agents in the areas of man-power needed to cover large areas, ability to film and use surveillance for lengthy hours and uses technology which gives more information than previously used means.  As the FAA streamlines the regulation of UAS and as the UAS slowly takes the missions in a cheaper and safer manner than manned aircraft systems, we will continue to see improvements in all aspects of the operations.

General Atomics. Predator B RPA. (2015) Retrieved 18 September 2015 from,     http://www.ga-asi.com/predator-b

Guerra, S., McNerney, M. (2015) Air National Guard Remotely Piloted Aircraft and Domestic Missions. Opportunities and Challenges. Retrieved 18 September 2015 from, http://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/research_reports/RR1000/RR1016/RAND_RR1016.pdf

U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Guardian UAS Maritime Variant Predator B. 2015) Fact Sheet. Retrieved 18 September 2015 from, http://www.cbp.gov/sites/default/files/documents/guardian_b_7.pdf

UAS in the NAS

UAS in the NAS

Shannon Gibson

Unmanned Systems, Module 4, Assignment 4.4

Embry Riddle Aeronautical University

How can the separation of unmanned aircraft be monitored and maintained (among other unmanned aircraft and manned aircraft) in the National Airspace System (NAS)? What considerations need to be made for varying sizes (i.e., Group 1 to 5) and airframes of UAS (e.g., fixed-wing, rotary-wing, and lighter than air)? What technology is currently employed by manned aircraft and is it adaptable for use with unmanned?

Incorporating unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) with manned aircraft systems is an ever-growing issues in the regulation of aviation in the National Airspace System (NAS). First, to understand that there are different groupings of UAS that fall into different categories, we must understand some of their limitations. And second, we need to understand how airspace is divided up; different rules in different classifications of airspace.  This also leads to several other issues including air traffic control (ATC) abilities and limitations with UAS and how the UAS/operator will communicate with ATC.

UAS Group	Maximum Weight (lbs) (MGTOW)	Nominal Operating Altitude (ft)	Speed (kts)	Representative UAS
Group 1	0 - 20	< 1200 AGL	100	RQ-11 Raven, WASP
Group 2	21 - 55	< 3500 AGL	< 250	ScanEagle
Group 3	< 1320	< FL 180		RQ-7B Shadow, RQ-21 Blackjack
Group 4	> 1320		Any airspeed	MQ-8B Fire Scout, MQ-1A/B Predator, MQ-1C Gray Eagle
Group 5		> FL 180		MQ-9 Reaper, RQ-4 Global Hawk, MQ-4C Triton

http://www.acq.osd.mil/sts/docs/DoD_UAS_Airspace_Integ_Plan_v2_(signed).pdf

Federal Aviation Administration - FAA Aeronautical Information Manual, Chapter 

Incorporating all of the variables such as; type UAS, characteristics and limitations of UAS, mission/purpose, route and payloads, the Federal Aviation Administration can then start to write regulations to incorporate the flight of UAS in the NAS. This is not so easy however, a small UAS (sUAS), or a Group 1 UAS, typically operates at approximately 1200ft and 100kts, knowing this, we certainly wouldn’t write rules for a sUAS to fly in Class A Airspace.  However, looking at Classes D, G, C and B, it would be possible in respects to altitude. However, if we would like to launch and recover a sUAS in Class D Airspace, we would need to have procedures for separation, transfer of ATC control, lost-link and emergency procedures.

The sUAS example above is a relatively miniscule example of a larger problem. UAS’s vary so broadly in their characteristics and limitations, it is difficult to take them all into account.  Having regulation of UAS into the NAS would have to include the capabilities such as the ability to squawk (transponder), anti-collision lighting, communications and frequency distribution aligned with the associated airspaces and facilities, ability to communicate seamlessly with ATC and numerous other factors.

Current technology that can cross from manned aircraft to some UAS’s is the ability to squawk an assigned code; this allowed both pilots and ATC to identify a target operating in the same area. Unfortunately, not all systems have this ability nor can support the weight and size of a transponder as an additional payload. Also, the size of the UAS can limit the payload ability in that it can be difficult or nonexistent to pick up a primary target on a radarscope for the smaller UAS’s. If some cannot be seen via radar, and a controller cannot or has a difficult time visually locating them, they must have strict rules to allow flight. For this to work, non-radar procedures can cover this. Non-radar procedures use minutes and miles to determine the location of an aircraft. This isn’t without its own concerns thought. Without a human in the cockpit, we’d have to rely on an operator on the ground that also cannot always visually locate the UAS, the operator can only rely on the system readings and programmed route.

There isn’t any one answer to solve all the issues with the integration of UAS in the NAS. Safety concerns are the number one concern that ensures there will be a long delay in the incorporation. I believe building airports specifically for the flight of UAS as well as routes strictly for them as well may be an answer, although the cost of this would be incredible.

References:

Department of Defense. Unmanned Aircraft System Airspace Integration Plan. Version 2.0. (March,  

       2011). UAS Task Force Airspace Integration Integrated Product Team. Retrieved from        

       https://www.uvsr.org/docs/DoD_2011_UAS_Airspace_Integration_Plan.pdf

FAA - Federal Aviation Administration - FAA Aeronautical Information Manual, Chapter 3, Section 

       2, FIG 3-2-1 http://www.faa.gov/air_traffic/publications/ATpubs/AIM/Chap3/aim0302.html